The battle marked the end of the Imperial Japanese Navy as a major fighting force and secured a foothold for the Allies in the Philippines, setting the stage for Japan's eventual defeat in World War II.
The Heroic Tin Can Sailors Held Off the Japanese Saving Thousands of Lives in WWII sofrep.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from sofrep.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The last survivor of Nishimura’s force, the destroyer Shigure, was sunk by a submarine in early 1945. All of the major American ships survived the war.